How often do truck drivers get home?

By Morgan, for CDLLife

One of the most common questions inexperienced drivers ask Schneider recruiters is, “How often do truck drivers get home?”

It is one of those questions, just like “How much do truck drivers make?”, that is dependent on so many different factors that it is impossible to give an exact answer.

So, although we cannot say exactly how often you will get home as a truck driver, we can tell you what will influence the amount of home time you do get.

What determines how often truck drivers get home:

• The company you work for

If you choose to work for a company that is solely over-the-road (OTR), you probably will not get home as often as you would if you worked for a company that only hires local drivers.

Furthermore, the size of the company you choose can also have an influence. Large companies, like Schneider, usually provide more driving style options than small companies do, so you can choose from different styles that offer different home time frequencies.

• What kind of driver you are

Like the previous factor, the type of driver you become has a significant impact on how often you get home time. A team or OTR driver could be on the road for three weeks, while a regional driver will probably get home a few times each week.

However, the number of hours a truck driver can drive does not differ based on what type of driver they are. A driver cannot drive more than 11 hours at one time or after having been on duty for 70 hours in any eight consecutive days.

• How much experience you have

How much driving experience you have can influence two things regarding home time.

One, some driving styles, like intermodal driving or driving for certain dedicated accounts, may require one year of driving experience before you can apply. Dedicated and intermodal driving styles are often in high demand because they provide consistent and often frequent home time.

Second, how much experience you have can determine how much paid time off you receive. When you are applying for jobs at different trucking companies, make sure to check out the benefits package so you know how much paid time off you will be receiving.

• Where you live

What driving styles and opportunities are available to you are going to be dependent on where you live. For example, you may not live near a major rail hub, so intermodal driving jobs are scarce.

Schneider, for instance, offers Jet-Set driving jobs, created specifically for drivers who live in states like Hawaii and Alaska. We fly these drivers to one of Schneider’s facilities, they haul freight for about three weeks out of that facility and then we fly them home.

This is a great opportunity for drivers who do not live near an operating center or for drivers who are willing to travel to a part of the country that needs more drivers.